Greenland - A Modern Arctic Society
A general description of Greenland,
published by The Home Rule Government
Part 4 of 4
This information is provided by Greenland Tourism a/s, the official tourist board of Greenland
As a part of the Danish Kingdom, Greenland cannot make agreements with other countries concerning foreign relations. As compensation, the constitution guarantees that Greenlandic authorities must be consulted on issues involving Greenland.
Greenland can, however, participate in international negotiations regarding matters of significance for Greenland. Moreover, it can be authorized to carry out negotiations under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry.
Greenland is an independent customs region and in this regard the rest of the Danish Kingdom is regarded as foreign territory.
During the 1979 referendum dealing with membership in the European Economic Community (EEC), Greenland voted against membership. However, because of the affirmative election results in Denmark, Greenland was obliged to become involved in spite of its own vote. For a population whose economy and existence are inextricably dependent on the resources of the sea, being administered from Europe was untenable. Resistance grew against its participation in the EEC and finally on 1 February 1985, Greenland succeeded in freeing itself entirely from EEC membership through a referendum.
In the same year that Greenland withdrew from the EEC, closer co-operation with other Nordic countries was consolidated. Greenland's Parliament participates in the work of the Nordic Ministers Council, both on the ministerial level and on official committees. Moreover, the cabinet is represented by two members as part of the Danish delegation to the Nordic Council and in recent years Greenland has more fully entered into further Nordic co-operation. In 1986 the Nordic Institute (N.A.P.A.) was established in Nuuk; it functions as a cultural information institution in order to strengthen Nordic co-operation between Scandinavia and the island in the North Atlantic.
Intensive efforts to establish closer co-operation between the Inuit in Alaska, Canada and Greenland and to promote common interests across the Arctic, resulted in The Inuit Circumpolar Conference which was established in Utquarvik-Barrow, Alaska in 1977.
Through closer communication with the world at large as well as the establishment of a direct air-route to Canada in 1982, increasing contact with North America is taking place. This is occurring primarily in connection with trade, and partly through the educational opportunities in North America utilized by young Greenlanders as well as through a burgeoning kinship to the West through personal and official contacts.
During the last decade of the Home Rule Government, much has happened: it has not been easy and there have been problems to contend with, problems which are familiar to most other countries. The period following the formation of the Home Rule Government has been hectic, and may appropriately be described as a passage through adolescence to adulthood.
Greenland is a country in rapid progress. For over half a century, the hallmark of this society has been characterized by an optimism about the future - a desire to stand forth and participate among the nations of the world. Greenland's poets were the first to stimulate the people to seize the responsibility for their own destiny. In 1912, Henrik Lund, one of Greenland's most erstwhile poets, wrote the following as part of Greenland's National Anthem: "We burn with the desire for development...The progress more mature societies have chosen is that we earnestly strive for."
Today, one might say that this has become much more than just a vision of the future. Contemporary Greenland is a modern society with industries, high-tech fisheries, an educational system which is on a par with that of any other nation; higher education has also been established in the country, the latest being the founding of Ilisimatusarfik - The University of Greenland in 1987.
During the last few years, the discovery of mineral deposits has also provided hope for the country's economic future.
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